Bolton striker David Ngog to join Cameroon squad

Cameroon's football federation (Fecafoot) has expressed gratitude to national coach Denis Lavagne for persuading England's Bolton Wanderers striker David Ngog to play for the country.

Since 2009, the 22-year-old, born of a Cameroonian father and a French mother in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine in France in April 1989, has shunned several offers to join the Indomitable Lions after playing at all levels of French junior national teams including the U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19 and U-21.

"David Ngog finally accepted our offer over the weekend following persistent persuasions from national coach Denis Lavagne, who was assisted by Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song. So we are very grateful to the two for their role in switching him over," Fecafoot spokesperson Junior Binyam told Xinhua Monday.

"As I am talking to you now we have already started making arrangements for him to obtain a Cameroon passport and we hope and pray that France, for which he played as a youth, will not stand in our way.

"In fact, we are pushing efforts so that the papers should go through and he should feature in the next 2013 African Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifier and the 2014 FIFA World Cup preliminaries. His appearance will certainly boost our attack while we wait for the return of national team captain Samuel Eto'o when his suspension ends."

Captain Samuel Eto'o and his deputy Eyong Enow were suspended from the national squad after they failed to take the team to Algeria for an arranged international friendly last November, severely weakening the Lions's attack and midfield.

Ngog started his professional football career with Paris Saint- Germain (France) in 2001 before moving to Liverpool (England) in 2008, and joined Bolton last August 31 on a three-year deal.

Although Cameroon beat low-rated Guinea-Bissau 1-0 in the away leg of the first 2013 AFCON qualifier, most supporters and fans of the Indomitable Lions were disappointed with their performance, with many considering the late Eric Tchoupo-Moting goal as pure luck. Since then, the head coach has been under pressure to seek ways and means of boosting their game.